New Trump scandal shows the depth of his assault on America's democratic foundations - CNNPolitics
New revelations suggesting that the Trump administration abused Justice Department powers to target his political enemies underscore just how far the ex-President went to destroy cherished principles of American republican government.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
(CNN)New revelations suggesting that the Trump administration abused Justice Department powers to target his political enemies underscore just how far the ex-President went to destroy cherished principles of American republican government.
They show that the true extent of assaults on democracy by Donald Trump are still coming to light and are probably even now not fully known.
But this is not just a drama about the alleged misbehavior of a former President. Taken together with the Republican Party's refusal to hold Trump -- who remains the GOP's dominant figure -- to account for the Capitol insurrection and its nationwide efforts to restrict voting , the new allegations also indicate that the freedoms and core values that have underpinned American life for two-and-a-half centuries remain in almost unprecedented peril.
In some of the most chilling exposés yet of Trump's autocratic tendencies, The New York Times late Thursday unveiled a secret scheme by prosecutors against members of Congress conducting presidential oversight.
In pursuit of leaks of classified information about contacts between Trump associates and Russia, the Justice Department subpoenaed Apple for data from the accounts of Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, their staff and even their families, including a minor. In a sinister twist to the story, prosecutors also secured a gag order against Apple, preventing it from informing customers their metadata had been seized.
The story sent shockwaves through Washington and lawmakers are now scrambling to understand the scope of what looks like one of the gravest scandals of an former administration steeped in political corruption. If the new drama is at it seems, it would validate fears of those who argued that Trump -- or his staff -- used the Justice Department as a personal political enforcement mechanism rather than the guarantor of the rule of law. It would also add fuel to arguments of those who warned that a second term for Trump would have further endangered the survival of American democracy,
In this case, prosecutors were not probing the disastrous exposure of a secret weapons system or some secret war plans. According to the Times reports, they were investigating members of Congress, including California Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell , also from California.
"You had the President calling on his opponents to be investigated," Schiff said on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" on Thursday. "One guardrail after another just smashed by this unethical former President."
Swalwell, who told CNN Thursday night he had been notified that his data had been seized, told CNN's Jim Sciutto on Friday morning that he had never leaked classified information and laid out why citizens should care.
"This is about everyday Americans who don't want to see their government weaponize law enforcement against them because of their political beliefs," Swalwell said.
Why it matters so much
The reason this latest issue is so important is that it appears to show the executive branch of the government wielding presidential power to target the legislative branch, and the President's personal political enemies. It would be hard to find a more clear and flagrant abuse of presidential power. This behavior would not only be a perversion of the DOJ's critical role in ensuring the neutral and apolitical application of justice -- a key requirement for a democratic society. It would also mirror the actions of autocrats across the world, many of whom Trump openly admired.
Furthermore, all of this was taking place at a time when Trump was railing against a "Deep State" of intelligence professionals and officials and as he was repeatedly lying. And the only reason why the revelations are emerging now is that gag orders on this and other investigations started by the former administration are expiring and are not being renewed by the Biden Justice Department.
In the Biden administration's first on-camera reaction Friday, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield called the reports "appalling."
During an appearance on MSNBC from Cornwall, England, Bedingfield suggested President Joe Biden has a "very different relationship" with the Justice Department than his predecessor, calling out the Trump administration's "abuse of power" with the department, and adding that the Biden administration's Justice Department is "run very, very differently."
The newest revelations raise the question of whether there are even more alarming abuses of power by Trump that are yet to be uncovered -- an issue that is going to hike pressure on new Attorney General Merrick Garland to provide an accounting. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has asked the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate the department's handling of the investigation, a Justice Department official briefed on the matter told CNN Friday.
At first sight, the new scandal appears to deserve a place in the pantheon of the most out-of-bounds uses of government power for political purposes in modern US history, including the Watergate scandal that felled President Richard Nixon and Trump's own long list of transgressions.
The latter category includes one impeachment for trying to get a foreign power, Ukraine, to interfere in a US election and another for inciting a mob insurrection at the US Capitol that shattered the tradition of peaceful transfers of power. Trump tried to bully GOP officials in Georgia into overturning a fair election in 2020 -- part of a campaign of lies about fraud that has soured millions of his supporters on the American political system. And he fired FBI Director James Comey and said he did it because of the Russia investigation.
The new reports are not just fresh examples of assaults on the guardrails of American democracy by the Trump White House. They come as the same goal is being pursued by GOP state lawmakers making it harder to vote and easier to steal elections and by the ex-President's insurrection deniers in the Capitol.
More revelations about Trump's autocratic instincts
In another insight into the depth of the assault on democratic values in the US, it emerged this week that the Trump Justice Department obtained a gag order to prevent CNN disclosing another secret leak investigation that swept up its Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr. Journalists working for the Washington Post and New York Times have also recently been informed that the Trump Justice Department pursued their email records and metadata without informing them.
Governments have the right to investigate leaks of national security. And leakers, whose whistleblowing may be needed for accountability in a democratic society, know they face potential prosecution for breaking the law.
But it is not clear that was the case here, and the predicate for a Justice Department investigation is opaque.
That fact alone will renew scrutiny on former Attorney General William Barr, whose initial appointment was greeted with relief in Washington given Trump's previous lawlessness, but who often appeared to act mostly as a personal lawyer for Trump. In the most famous example of this, he publicly misrepresented Robert Mueller's report into Trump campaign ties with Russia and the Kremlin's 2016 election meddling effort. The current leak storm is yet another Trump abuse of power that appears to have been motivated by a desire to cover up what remain mysterious links between the former President's orbit and Moscow, which meddled in the election five years ago in an attempt to help Trump win.
The key to understanding the new case is whether it was justified by any provable evidence of leaking by top Democrats, or was instead a vindictive effort by a President who constantly pressured the Justice Department to investigate his enemies.
The notion that the investigation was justified seems to be undermined by the staggering scope of the subpoenas -- even extending to family members of Congress. It also appears to have turned up no wrongdoing.
The most concrete outcome of yet another Trump abuse of power scandal may be to underline the truism about American democracy revealed again and again by one of the most corrupt administrations in history. The structures of US government are fragile and the guardrails that separate a President from wielding absolute, almost monarchial power are often only as strong as a commander-in-chief's respect for democracy itself. When an aberrant president is in office, those restraints become far less effective.
The new reports of abuses of power will provide yet another test of the Republican Party's consistent choice to defend the outlandish behavior of its former President instead of standing up for the traditional principles of US democracy.
If recent history is any guide, there is only one way most members of a party comprehensively bought into Trump's personality cult will react.
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Trump went after support staff, their families, and in one case, a minor child. Game over.
fascist, white supremacist, traitor, autocrat, unamerican scumbag. the 1st amendment, trump style...
You left out a bunch of stuff!
Trump will never understand the concept of boundaries. He's never had them or even acknowledged that such a concept could exist. The fact that he went after the email and phone records of a child, FFS. That's why he needs to go some place where he has no choice but to accept the boundaries he is given. Prison is just the place to learn about boundaries.
Dickhead!
That works for me as long as mushroom is implied.
24/7/365 - some people just can't quit. He's gone - leave him gone.
No, he's not. As soon as he actually goes away it will be crickets. But he won't go away, he just can't let go.
and neither can they
Who are you talking about? Certainly not Donald Trump. Good grief, your dude is still screaming THE ELECTION WAS RIGGED every five freaking minutes.
I'll make you a deal. When he stops forcing himself on the American public, I'll stop talking about his ongoing nonsense.
He's only "forced" on the American public by the media who has nothing to do and by people who won't let go.
Let him go SMAAB - you're much better than that
BTW - we hit 107 today - supposed to be 'bout 109 tomorrow. Those water hazards on the golf course sure look inviting
That's just gross! It's the humidity that's killing us here.
Hey! - If you decide to go for a swim on the back 9, grab a selfie and post it.
Yeah - our humidity is running at 11%, so water, while on the course, is used in great abundance.
The back 9 has two great water holes - I'll see what I can do in a way that I won't get kicked off the course. Guess that means I'll have to go in fully clothed
- ya know, don't wanna gross the rest of the players out.
Sorry to be off-topic on your thread - have a wonderful day/weekend
.
Come on man, you still have elements of the right wing media focusing on Obama and Hillary and Hillary was never even POTUS.
Thank God!!!
Nixon on steroids' x 10^9
Ha!!!
The man who claimed that as POTUS, he could do anything he wanted, even if it violated the Constitution. Now, citizen Trump is going to find out that he couldn't. Game over Trump, you are so busted.
Seems Trump continues to deny reality..
'...everyday Americans who don't want to see their government weaponize law enforcement against them because of their political beliefs.'
What if everyday Americans want their government to weaponize law enforcement against partisan enemies because of THEIR political beliefs?
The problem a lot of people are going to have with this is that the media has lied so much over the past five years when dealing with what Trump has done. And so many of the stories have been disproven or walked back. Here is another story that lays out a rather damning story but the story is also littered with 'suggests' and 'appears to show'. No proof in this story from CNN, you have to go into the NY Times to find out any details on what the Justice Department is doing. But after all the stories from the media that turned out to be wrong, how are we to believe this one will be any different?
I know there are plenty of people who will be all over this, but they are the same ones who were saying Trump would be perp-walked out of the Oval Office thanks to Mueller. So until there is actual proof, charges and convictions, this is just partisan noise similar to what's been spread for the past several years.
Took just a few lines in the article to realize this is a CNN hit piece. Obama had journalist tapped. More information will be released and from unbiased sources. Testimonies will be done so we should wait till all the facts are gathered before making knee jerk reactions.
Thank you for your...comment.
so Hillary is innocent, as is Biden's son, Jeffrey Epstein, Bill lower the Barr, Flynn, Trump's lawyer, th eformer head of the Post office, and the other hundred of Trump's best and brightest people he had to pardon...? Teflon Don Sticks
out like a Richard on a Dog, a Wart on a Hawg, and a BULL OF SHIT, cause there is nothing, absolutely nothing you defenders/jock supporters, Won't Defend or support about this so obviously guilty DICK, cause NO he wasn't walked out of office in cuffs, though he sure as shit should have been a dozen or more times, but Trump is ALWAYS INN NO SENSE, innocent......and that's ONLY BECAUSE THE GOP were grabbed by Trump, just like he bragged about, cause he grabbed those Pussies, and they just let em' [Deleted]
I just saved your comment in my favorites file. Straight-up fabulous. PN me with what was deleted, will ya?
i tried, and when did we Un Friend...? Gotta go Drinkin !!
when did we Un Friend...?
Huh?
*edit* I thought you were kidding. Problem resolved.
You've got that so backwards. trump has been lying nonstop for the past five years and hasn't stopped yet. He will continue to lie till the day he dies.
His alternative facts have been rather annoying, haven't they?
And yet I wasn't talking about Trump and what he has done or will do tomorrow. I was only talking about what the media has done for the past five years and why I don't trust them. CNN in particular has such a proven track record over the past few years that I do not trust almost anything they report on.
CNN has known about Trump's subpoenas for a while. They were under a gag order not to discuss it. It's been bad enough learning that Trump went after CNN Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr and a few of her colleagues. But to go after political opponents, their support staff and their families? Tricks and nonsense are Donald Trump's calling cards. So your disbelief topped with indignance about this is rather silly. The good news? He lost the election anyway.
Educate yourself.
Obama went after James Rosen at Fox and his parents, and AP reporters.
Maybe Trump learned his tricks from Obama...
Thank you for your...comment.
[deleted]
I wonder when Obama did it they gave a shit and was an American?
Nah, It wasn’t in them.
says the posters who saw no sign of Trump inciting and giving the mentally Less Offs , on how to be More Ons, January 6th....yep, nothing to see hear or talk about, at all.
did you look down while taking a leak...?
Is Donald Trump caustic? Yes absolutely. Yet my comments were not about what Trump has done or will do, it was all about how the media has spent the past five years attacking Trump and the entire Republican party only to have to walk back stories with retractions and corrections. Or all the stories that were disproven when the investigation into the subject was released. So with the mullti-year track record of the media, I still see no reason why I should consider a story from them. IMO believing a story from the media would be similar to you believing a story out of Donald Trump himself.
The DOJ IG Dept has started an investigation into this, so if there is anything there then they hopefully will find it. Once their report is released then it can be believed. But anything coming out of CNN IMO cannot be believed because they have proven themselves to be untruthful. Which is really the saddest statement in reporting that I can think of.
DOJ IG sent out a press release:
DOJ OIG Initiates a Review of the Department of Justice’s Use of Subpoenas and Other Legal Authorities to Obtain Communication Records of Members of Congress and Affiliated Persons, and the News Media | U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General
yes, the NY Times article mentioned that the DOJ IG department had started a review into this. I will wait for their review, I'm not willing to accept any media spin. If there is anything there, then change policies and/or hold people accountable.
One question for thought however. If this review comes back with no further action will it be accepted or contested in the media? After all, the Inspector General is Michael Horowitz who was put into place by Donald Trump. Will the media trust Horowitz to do his job honestly or will they report badly on him because of his connection to Trump?
Well ONE thing we know that is 'there' is that the subpoenas WERE issued and served. If that were not true, the DOJ wouldn't be reviewing it, they would merely call it out as bullshit.
Which media? As with his last report, different outlets will report it differently.
IG Horowitz was confirmed as DOJ IG in 2012. Sheesh!
You're right, sorry. I misread the entry. Horowitz was appointed to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee by Trump.
No reason to be sorry. You now have accurate information to share...
Still doesn't mean I'm gonna trust the media..
Exactly. Different outlets have their bias, there's no such thing as truthful news anymore. And as this comes from the NY Times and repeated by CNN, there's an even bigger uphill climb for them as both outlets have lied repeatedly over the past five years.
That is by design. Once the 'Fairness doctrine' was repealed, that result was easily predictable and it was their desired result.
Everything seems to be 'in order' here. Carry on! (Chuckles.)